Opinion: Tracy Jin, Chief Operating Officer, MEXC
Market operations are everywhere, but we can’t see them anywhere yet. This is an invisible threat that affects crypto and traditional markets, with regular traders counting costs. Sometimes the operation is obvious – the illiquid token is pumped high before being discarded just as quickly as possible – but in many cases it is subtle and more difficult to detect.
What is even more concerning is that these schemes are no longer in the realm of fraudulent whales and amateur pump groups. The signs increasingly point to coordinating centralized exchanges, derivative platforms, and highly organized, funded networks that coordinate activities across the on-chain ecosystem. As these actors become more refined, the threat to market integrity grows exponentially.
A story as old as time
Market operations are as old as the market itself. In ancient Greece, a philosopher named Thales of Miletus used knowledge of weather patterns to predict the harvest of bumper olives, quietly leasing all the olive presses in the region at low speeds before the season began. Then, when the harvest came in and press demand spiked, he rented them at an inflated price and pocketed the differences.
There are still recent historical examples of the past 300 years, but in the Nankai company bubble, company directors dump stocks at peak prices, leaving regular investors with Rekt. Or the Dutch tulip bubble from a century ago.
Since the first exchanges appeared around 2011, market operations have been present in crypto. You might remember the BTC-E exchange pump and dump scheme at the time, organized by an infamous trader called Fontas. Or they may remember the Bear Axel. Whale crashed the market when a 30,000 BTC sales wall was less than $30 million in total daily trading volume. It is not technically a market manipulation, but it showed how easily one individual can move through the crypto market.
Fast forward to today, Crypto is a trillion dollar asset class, delivering large asset operations that are virtually impossible for a lonely whale. However, even if a group of malicious traders work together, it is still possible to move through the market.
The manipulator works
In the days when a single whale could set up a BTC sales wall, the wall that took weeks to fall has long gone. Cryptography is more liquid-sized these days, but it is also much more fragmented. This provides opportunities for enterprising traders hunting in packs to gain the market advantage. Often, working through private telegram groups, people coordinate market-targeted activities that can be most effective. This trend highlights the increased participation of key players in market manipulation schemes and presents a new level of risk to the crypto industry.
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In February, analyst James Cryptoguru warned of the massive operational risks involved in the Spot Bitcoin ETF. He explained that these devices could put downward pressure on Bitcoin prices – especially when traditional financial markets are closed. Such a strategy can cause liquidation among leveraged traders, cause temporary imbalances, allowing large players to accumulate BTC and ETH at discounted prices.
Crypto (both Onchain and On-Exchange) is so interconnected that the ripple effect of successful operation is much broadly extended. If a trading pair that the API has been queried to supply other markets is knocked out of the synchronization in one central exchange, it can generate arbitrage opportunities elsewhere, including the PERPS market. As a result, you can launch an attack in one exchange, and profits will be billed in another exchange, making it extremely difficult to catch the perpetrator.
The integrity of the cryptocurrency market faces an increased risk. The coordinated group has deep pockets, technical tools, and cross-platform access to perform and mask complex operations. The nuisance is that most replacements remain reactive by design, as it is virtually impossible to prevent market manipulation. As a result, attackers are more likely to retain the advantage even as the windows Amok can run freely become smaller and smaller.
Not all manipulators break the rules
Just as Miletus’ Thales did not break the rules when he profited from the olive season, much of what constitutes a cryptographic operation is not illegal. When large funds start buying certain tokens through one of their public wallets and get attention, is it an operation? Or what if the market maker is not just matching the bid spreads, but is actively supporting the token price according to the project’s demands? Many things move through the market, but most are not illegal. At least not now.
The moral norms that govern influencers, market makers, trading companies, and other players of serious sizes can be discussed at length, but other cases require less nuance. It’s blatantly explicit that dozens of users are using thousands of exchange accounts to put staff on the last time someone checks out and inflate certain assets. The exchange, backed by increasingly sophisticated AI-powered tools, is fighting back.
It’s possible that the day one user has caused mayhem in the market is over. However, the threat has not been dissipated in the Multi-Chine Multi-Ex-Kenji era. It’s increasing. As a result, exchanges are now trapped in a carriage game, trying to simultaneously detect suspicious behavior initiated by hundreds or thousands of accounts.
Thankfully, as successful collaboration cases show, the exchange doesn’t have to do that on its own. When Bibit was hacked in early 2025, other platforms intervened to lend ETH and help them fulfill their retreat obligations.
A well-funded, highly organized group continues to test the system. One thing becomes clear. Manipulating the market may be relatively easy, but it is increasingly difficult to do so without being detected. Collective vigilance, data sharing, and early detection are becoming the most effective tools in protecting the integrity of the crypto trading ecosystem.
Opinion: Tracy Jin, Chief Operating Officer of MEXC.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not intended to be considered legal or investment advice, and should not be done. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or express Cointregraph’s views and opinions.
